Too Hungry to Stay Within Points!!!

I can't believe I'm about to quit WW already for the same reason I have quit every other diet. I'M HUNGRY! I guess I have a big appetite, because regardless of spreading out meals/snacks, and including fruits/vegetables, I am out of points and still HUNGRY, and it's NOT going away.

I guess dieting never is comfortable, though I've heard SO many people on SO many plans say that it IS comfortable, and that they're NOT hungry.

What do I do? How do I do this without having stomach pangs that are severe enough to make me miserable and unable to function well?

I don't do WW but I have in the past. Before they changed their system, I was able to do it, but once I tried after they changed it and I was feeling SOOOO hungry! Right now, I do calorie counting and I love it because I can adjust my calories however I see fit. I also like to give myself a range. Hope I didn't offend anyone....to each their own and WW is great, but it's important to choose what works for you.

There are tons of free foods out there that you can eat, so don't hesitate to use them when needed!!

Two things that I found have helped me with my hunger: First, making sure I get plenty of protien at each and every meal. If I skimp protien at any meal, I am dying by the end of the day and my hunger levels are way up. I also find that I have to take a multi-vitamin every single day. If I don't, I wind up craving stuff. I also make sure to take extra vitamin B.

Hang in there. How long have you been on the program? I have been back on for about 6 weeks and have found that my appetite has gone way down and I am just not wanting the portion sizes that I did before. It took a few weeks for things to even out, but it is really obvious that my "stomach has shrunk". Smaller portion sizes and definitely more filling now.

The best thing would be to see a few days of tracking, let us know what your daily points are, what your activity is like (and when), and what times of day you are having problems with hunger.

You can tweak your daily points up a couple of points too if you feel you need to, and hopefully will still let you lose weight. But it would be easier to see what your average eating is like right now first to know if that's necessary.

General stuff in the meantime:
As other folks have said, protein is awesome for keeping you full so make sure you are getting enough of that.

Throw more vegetables liberally in with everything. Like today I had a kashi sweet and sour chicken for lunch and steamed a half cup of broccoli and mixed it in, it really bulked it up a lot. Spinach is a great thing that works mixed in with a lot of things - soups, omelets, etc. I even put some in my protein smoothies sometimes. The list goes on!

0 point things that help fill up in a pinch that I like are sugar free jello and benefiber cherry pomegranate drink mixes - it mixes into a bottle of water for a sugar free drink and has 3g of fiber in it, I don't know I find myself pretty full after I drink it. But these are once in a while things, there's definitely an overlying problem somewhere to figure out if hunger is going on constantly.

If everything else looks good, it could be an issue worth looking into with the doc. I get the same thing when I am watching what I eat no matter what the plan - I don't know if it's what I'm eating, eating less, or what, but I experience a lot more inexplicable hunger (or what felt like hunger) which actually turned out to be stomach acid problems.

Are you eating the right things or spending your points on 100-calorie packs, too many refined carbs and other junk? Protein keeps you feeling full the longest and you should be having some with every meal and snack. Next is fat so be sure you are getting your healthy oils in. Exercise also helps control hunger. Are you getting in all the 9 GHGs every day? You should never be hungry if you concentrate on Power Foods.

__________________
Susan

HW 356 pounds - CW 131 - GW 137

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

What are you actually eating? It would be helpful to see a daily menu or two to see if there is something in there that you can change. How you use your points does matter and make sure you are using them all, every day, and use your weeklies if needed, too.

Also, make sure you're not thirsty. I realize now that ravenous feeling I get is actually that I need something to drink, not that I want any food.

Yes, please post some menus so we can help you! I make sure to include a vegetable or a fruit with every meal or snack. That really helps to ensure I get the recommended daily # while also keeping me full.

I have been doing WW (off and on) for about 7 years now and I have to say, Points Plus is the longest I have consistently stayed 100% on-program before falling off track. The free fruits/vegetables really help to fill me up and curb those hunger pangs that I often felt on the older programs when my points were maxed out...thus leading me to binge. (Of course, you do have to be mindful of all the extra fruits you are consuming. Losses may be a little slower, but hey an apple is better than a cheeseburger right?)

"Hunger" can very much be a mental thing. If you are consuming all your pts for the day, I really doubt you are physically hungry. There have been many many many times in the past where I felt the same...to the point where I (very dramatically) told myself that I'd simply just die if I didn't have something more to eat! But I'd resist, goto sleep, and whatdoyaknow..the next morning I felt fine and realized how incredibly silly and theatrical I was about that hunger which I thought was so unfathomable. Just tell yourself, get through today sticking to the program. Your body and mental state will adjust.

I don't really know much about points plus, but I know that it isn't all that different from calorie counting. While you can spend all of your points on whatever you want, you need to choose wisely to make sure that you are eating meals that fill you up and keep you feeling full.

Like I said I don't know much about points plus, but let's look at meals with relatively the same volume of food, from the same place.

The Cheesecake Factory has some wild portions, so let's use them especially since they have their new lower calorie menu with equally delicious food.

This is my favorite meal: The Tuscan Chicken. It's a lot of food and the menu lists it at 590 calories, MyFitnessPal says 585. Either way it's not that much and it's all chicken and veggies pretty much. Yum!

Here's another meal that I've seen brought out on the same plate as the above so it's probably around the same amount of food, maybe just a little more. The Fettucini With Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes has 1,830 calories according to MyFitnessPal.

Same amount of food, VERY DIFFERENT in terms of calories. I would also bet that the Tuscan Chicken would keep you fuller longer than the Fettucini. WHAT you eat is sometimes very important when it comes to hunger. I can eat 1200 calories and be satisfied for the day if they're made up of things like the Tuscan Chicken.

Explore WHAT you're eating and see if you are spending your points on things that are leaving you hungry.

I can understand it.
Today morning I am very vey hungry.
BF
4 egg white
1 cheese single
1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 kiwi, 1/8th Apple
green tea.
still I was very hungry
so had 2 glasses of water, but stomach was churning.
This doesn't appen normally.
Then after 2 hours
had
1% milk 8oz
1 whole wheet bread slice, 4 cashew nuts and 4 almonds
It is 12 noon and boy, I am starving.
I do not know what is wrong today.
Does any one experience it?
PL let me know what to do.
Today it is raining, cannot even go out for walk.

However, I would bulk it up with vegetables... for example, the egg whites... why not saute some spinach or whatever veggies you like? It adds more bulk and helps you towards your good health guidelines goal for veggie and for healthy oil. And the wheat bread slice.. plain? nothing on it? No wonder that wasn't satisfying! Maybe a smear of hummus or avocado and a slice of tomato?

My advice is to not be afraid of healthy fats and add fruits and vegetables anywhere you can.

Well of course you're hungry if your breakfast is only 3 or 4 points. I love using egg whites and I make an awesome breakfast burrito by throwing in veggies like spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, and tomatoes and 1 link of morning star breakfast sausage and just a bit of low-fat cheese. It's super filling and you can always skip the tortilla and just make it a scramble.

Breakfast is very very important and I always make a point of using quite a lot of points on breakfast. It keeps me full and satisfied so I can have a smaller lunch and the points balance out that way.